Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin Visits Harding Academy Robotics
At the 2019 annual White County Republican dinner, I had the chance to talk to Arkansas’ Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin. I felt my years of training in robotics PR kick in, and I started telling him about our program. My time spent working on the Chairman’s Award had given me insight as to how to represent my team. In a matter of minutes, Lt. Gov. Griffin was ready to come tour our school to learn more about our programs, specifically our LEGO teams. I sent a follow up email, and within a few days I was scheduling with his chief of staff, my principal, superintendent, and two of my robotics mentors. It was hard to believe that our team would have such an opportunity, and it was an honor to be in the middle of it.
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, his son, and his chief of staff David Ray were standing in the high school hallway the next Friday. As a high schooler, I never expected to have a chief of staff’s phone number in my "recents," yet it was happening.
I, along with the school administration and robotics mentors, explained all of our programs, competitions and outreach events. Lt. Gov. Griffin was interested in what we had to say. We discussed the Arkansas STEM Coalition Board and the future of STEM in Arkansas schools. We told him how we operate, about our goals for spreading STEM education in Arkansas, and how we can help. He listened to the work we had done and loved it. He was very interested in signing up his son for our LEGO Camp. For me personally, I'm excited about his son's coming to camp, because I'll be a mentor at camp! He also told us to contact him and send him updates about our events. He wanted to be there and he wanted to be involved.
Once he left we all took a deep breath and then took the next step. I pocketed the card with contact information and then sat down and started planning for future correspondence with the Lt. Governor's office and the STEM Coalition. The joy I felt after winning regional Chairman’s never left and was reignited after seeing the State's interest in our program. The energy continues as we all work together to take Breakaway into next year.
If you or anyone you know might be interested in our Lego Camp, it's August 5-9, 2019 at Harding Academy in Searcy, Arkansas. Contact Brian Jones for more information bjones22@harding.edu.
Thank you sponsors!
